


The Secret of Sahmara

by Vermilion_Sunrise



Category: Original Work
Genre: Cultures Collide, F/M, Fantasy, Female Protagonist, Fictional Religion & Theology, How Much Will You Sacrifice?, Male Protagonist, Misunderstanding, Older Woman/Younger Man, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Original Universe, POV Original Character, Porn With Plot, Warrior - Freeform, ancient texts, misinterpretation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 04:18:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16234064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vermilion_Sunrise/pseuds/Vermilion_Sunrise
Summary: The ancient city-state of Sahmara holds a secret, one that has been protected for many generations by a line of warrior queens. Aurora is the last of these queens. As times change and kingdoms fall, she must ally herself with her enemy in order to keep this secret from falling into the wrong hands. In turn she takes a step into the unknown, daring to do what her predecessors would not, tempting fate and her own desires for the survival of mankind.This is my first original work -- It's going to be a short story but a very slow leak so don't let the completed mark fool you ;-) Feedback welcome as I'm looking for constructive ways to improve.





	The Secret of Sahmara

**Author's Note:**

> To my subscribers and those who know me, this is one of the side projects I've been working on and the reason I haven't updated some of my other ongoing works in a while. While I do feel a personal drive to finish those stories, this one will move along very slowly as the idea develops. So soon I will be back to our "unfinished" business.
> 
> To those of you who don't know me, Hi! This is my first original work and I don't have huge aspirations for it. I have a bigger idea and I'm just going to test out bits and pieces of this idea on this forum. I'm keen for constructive feedback.

#  Chapter 1: A Step into the Unknown

 

Aurora tightened her leather gauntlets and flexed her fingers within them. The new hide wrinkled and stretched with the motion of her fingers, the perfection of their design something to behold. Not wanting to waste too much time, she regrettably turned her attentions to the rest of her armor. It was tradition for female warriors to wear their breastplate tight to their bodies -- but Aurora never had. Usually a two finger distance allowed her body the freedom of movement she desired. It had to do with the way she moved her body, but also her stature. She was taller than most, her muscular frame ill fitting to the traditional fighting garbe of her people. It was a fitting metaphor for how she had always felt about her position in life, about the civilization founded by her foremothers generations ago. A painful sigh escaped her lips, one that personified how sorry she felt that it had come to this. Aurora had never meant for this to happen -- though she had always prayed for a change. She would have to shrug off those feelings for now, focus on the battle before her -- take a step into the unknown. Struggling to pull some of the latches on her breastplate herself, Aurora finally succeeded - content with her own efforts. 

 

Her twin khopesh swords were sharp, their blades not yet dulled by contact with flesh and bone. This knowledge however, did little to quiet the raging storm inside her. She felt ill, the end was upon her and -- though try as she might -- she could not find peace with it. Tieing her long red hair in a braid, as was custom before battle, she took a moment in an attempt to steady her racing heart. It was not the impending battle she feared or the loss of her own life, it was the protection of the secret she kept that was foremost in her mind. The queens of Sahmara had been entrusted with its safekeeping for generations, sworn to the gods to keep this secret from the hands of mortal man. That was why she didn’t vacate the city, why her tired and worn warriors fought house to house against the northern invaders. It was more important than any life. More important than any ideal. For this secret had everything to do with preserving life as she knew it.

 

Moving from the throne room out to the veranda, Aurora watched her city burn. Sahmara had stood for over a thousand years, her mothers before her had built and ruled this place. Built it from a small oasis in the desert into a thriving center for art and culture. Sahmarians were merchants, inventors, philosophers, warriors -- her people were peace loving, good folk. They were innocent when it came to what their queens protected. This great treasure more the talk of legend than something tangible to them. It was her burden to bare, and hers alone. She had hated this burden, despised it from her earliest memory. For she knew it would one day lead to this -- that the Sahmara army would be bested and the secret stolen. For it was said that he who possessed the key would rule the world. It was not clear from the remaining glyphs how that would be though. The ancients had said little more on the subject, but as such Aurora and her progenitors had been chosen to protect it. But this guardianship was tainted, deep down she had always known it would be the reason for their downfall.

 

“Well isn’t this what you wanted?” Her mother’s voice came from her own head. That was one of the  problems with being a clairvoyant, Aurora could speak to the dead -- and they could speak to her. 

 

It was times like this that Aurora had wished she were connected to her grandmother -- at the very least then she would have some peace. For she and her mother had never gotten along. Her mother Aijx had never understood her premenisions, couldn’t grasp the idea that while Aurora could see the future -- the future could change. The only part of her visions that had remained the same from childhood was the Northman. He was here and he was different from the rest.

 

A sigh escaped her lips, now was not the time for a lecture. “I never wanted this mother. I never wanted to see our people suffer. It was supposed to be different.” There was little emotion in Aurora’s voice, as if all the feelings had been stolen from her mind and body.

 

Her mother scoffed at her. “Even as a child you knew they were coming and yet you did nothing about it. All these years we could have crushed them, killed their rulers in their beds and prevented this whole mess. But no, you chose not to -- you chose to throw it all away and for what? For a man!”

 

A tear rolled down Aurora’s cheek at her mother’s harsh words. Sahmarian queens were not supposed to marry, the siring of their children done by priests who kept the faith. They did not love nor were they supposed to feel, but focused on the art of war, diplomacy and keeping the secret safe. For as long as Aurora could remember she had known the Northman would come for her. That he would change everything. She had even looked forward to it at one point in her life, for it would have signaled a change from her mundane life-- a new beginning -- and she had not feared this unlike her mother. 

 

But now, as she looked out across her beautiful home, acknowledging the destruction that had been reaped upon it, she was confronted with the other problem with her gift. The future changed -- for whatever reason it changed -- and sometimes she could not know what influenced it and how. In all the years she had seen this man in her vision destruction had never been part of it. Death had never figured into the equation -- she had certainly never suited up in her armor to fight him.

 

“I knew the Northman would change my life, mother. That he would save us and what we have sworn to protect. But destruction on this scale…” Aurora closed her eyes, trying to find a peace within herself. She would need to find it, and soon.

 

The door to the throne room moved from its hinges, snapping back with a loud bang.  _ ‘They’re coming for me.’  _

 

Shaking her mother from her mind, Aurora took her place in the throne room, her swords at the ready. She had never seen the Northman’s face, but she would know when he was there -- she would feel him. But all others -- she would take them down where they stood. If Aurora was going to step into the unknown, she would do it on her terms.


End file.
